About XML Formatter

Format and prettify XML documents. Part of the DevTools Surf developer suite. Browse more tools in the XML collection.

Use Cases

• Java developers formatting Maven POM or Spring config files
• Integration engineers reading SOAP service responses
• DevOps engineers prettifying CI/CD pipeline XML configs
• Data analysts inspecting XML data exports from legacy systems

Tips

• Choose between 2-space and 4-space indentation styles
• Paste single-line XML to quickly reveal its hierarchy
• Verify that CDATA sections are preserved after formatting

Fun Facts

• XML 1.0 was published as a W3C Recommendation on February 10, 1998, derived from SGML which dates back to 1986.
• The XML specification was authored by a working group of 11 members led by Jon Bosak of Sun Microsystems.
• XML namespaces, introduced in 1999, solved element naming conflicts but remain one of XML's most confusing features.

FAQ

Does the formatter preserve CDATA and comments?

Yes — CDATA blocks, processing instructions, and comments are kept intact and re-indented to match the surrounding tree. Only whitespace between tags changes.

Will it validate my XML?

No. The formatter works on any XML-shaped text, even invalid documents — useful for inspecting broken templates. Use the XML Validator for strict parsing.

What about namespaces?

Namespaces (`xmlns:`) are preserved exactly as written. The formatter does not collapse or resolve prefixes.

Does it change attribute quoting?

Normalizes to double quotes by default (the XML standard preference). Toggle 'preserve quotes' to keep single quotes where you used them.